Prof. Teresa Mares, Anthropology, was awarded a UVM REACH Grant for her project La Otra Frontera (The Other Border): Exploring Latino/a Migrant Foodways in Vermont.

This study investigates the food practices of Latino/a migrant workers in Vermont’s dairy industry. The first objective of this multi-year study is to examine: how one’s relationship to food and hunger shapes the decision to migrate; how accessing, preparing and sharing food influences household relationships before and after migration; and how migrant households negotiate food needs and preferences within the institutional structures and policies related to the market, the state, and civil society. The second objective is to test and improve the methodological tools used to research food security and food access within households that are excluded from US political citizenship. This study will establish quantitative measures of food security among Latino/a migrant households and combine these measures with qualitative data that provide a deeper understanding of how these households access food.

This REACH Award will support research conducted during the initial phases of this study. This includes conducting 200 surveys with Latino/a workers on Vermont’s dairies using the Spanish version of the US Household Food Security Survey Module, and conducting follow-up interviews with 50 households. Additionally, interviews will be conducted with service providers and other key stakeholders in the broader social network that Latino/households engage to access food.

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